Hoosier Theatre
1335 119th Street,
Whiting,
IN
46394
1335 119th Street,
Whiting,
IN
46394
4 people
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Back in business but for how long, I don’t know.
Website link is dead. Movie listings are on their Facebook page.
The untimely passing of the manager of the Hoosier Theatre (https://www.baranfh.com/notices/Joseph-Pranaitis) was another nail in the coffin of the Hoosier remaining open. I spoke to John the owner and he told me he will close for business in a week or so. It is a terrible fate for this 100 year old theatre, in my opinion.
Warner Brothers moved into northwest Indiana in 1930. Warner struck a $750,000 deal in July to acquire the Indiana and the American theaters in Indiana Harbor and the Hoosier theater in Whiting from Michael Kozacik. Included was an option that Kozacik and partner Alex Manta had to build a theater at Chicago Avenue and Olcott Avenue in East Chicago, IN. First announced in April 1929, the theater at Chicago and Olcott was to become a Publix playhouse but the project stalled after the death of Publix-Fitzpatrick-McElroy’s Blair McElroy. (Publix acquired Fitzpatrick-McElroy in April 1929.)
Thank you for the link to the auction,David. I won one item, and was amazed at the collection. I spoke to John when I picked up my item and he said it did not go as well as he had hoped. He is still hoping to sell the theatre to someone who will care for it as he has for the past 33 years. I will try to post photos from the balcony and backstage, which most have not seen views from.
Link to an upcoming auction of items from the Hoosier Theatre. Description credit Badger Corporation:
Historical “Hoosier Theatre” Online Auction @ 1335 119th St, Whiting, IN 46394 www.badgercorp.com John & His Family Bought “Hoosier Theatre” Back In 1991, After It Sat Empty For Quite Some Time. John Couldn’t Let This Historical “HOOSIER THEATRE” Crumble Anymore So Him & His Family Decided To Restore The Building. After Going Through Everything In The Basement & Collecting High End Antique Theatre Pieces He Figured It Was Time To Sell. We Are Honored To Assist John & His Family By Running An Online Auction. www.badgercorp.com This Sale Features; 1980’s Ballantyne Strong 70 MM Projector, 1920’s Diener Copper & Brass Fire Extinguisher, 1920’s Elkhart Copper & Brass Fire Extinguisher, 1920’s Essanay Copper & Brass Fire Extinguisher, JBL Theatre Speaker Packages, 1930’s Copeland Galvanized Ice Box W/ Porcelain Interior, Christie 38-DLV001-01 Event Projector(Complete), TurboChef 941-004-00 Counter-Top Fire Pizza Oven, 1950’s Brenkert Projector Head 35MM, Christie 2002 38-DCP201-102 Commercial Projector(George Lucas), 1920’s Silvertone Victrola 78 Records, 1922 Elevator Dial Brass & Cast Iron W/ Button & Sooo Much More Check Out Our Website For The Full Catalog www.badgercorp.com Auction Start Date/Time: BID NOW!!! www.badgercorp.com Auction Inspection Date/Time: April 17th, 2024 from 10:00AM - 2:00PM Central Time www.badgercorp.com Auction End Date/Time: April 18th, 2024 10:30AM Central Time www.badgercorp.com Auction Removal Date/Time: April 19th & 20th, 2024 9:00AM-4:00PM Central Time www.badgercorp.com
https://badgercorp.com/auction-details/?auctionGuid=018e612e-70c4-750b-b90a-1ef54ebc5b74
There are occasionally silent movies shown with accompaniment by Jay Warren who plays his own VTPO. The next one as of this writing is the 1924 silent “Peter Pan”. More information is at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/silent-film-sundays-peter-pan-1924-tickets-474175330177?
History of the Hoosier Theatre by Anthony Borgo, published in February 2019 by the Whiting-Robertsdale Historical Society.
https://www.wrhistoricalsociety.com/the-history-of-the-hoosier-theat?fbclid=IwAR3GdGWR-zRa17m4OgzWCNOIrNbE2veHD252_J5GqJBBVQvnftYzIoboAuM
Update/correction on the organ:The pipe organ is inoperable. An electronic organ has been installed since Oct.2017. It is used for silent films;the most up to date information about which may be found on their facebook page.
Here is an article about the Hoosier Theatre from 2005.
Architect was E.P. Rupert for firm R. Levine & Company
The Hoosier’s web site indicates that they show quite a few first-run features, so pat of our description is out of date. The current movie is The Book of Life, which was released on October 17.
Long term plans for the Hoosier include adding a second screen in adjacent store space and another screen in a new building to be erected on the vacant lot next door. Eventually, plays will sometimes be mounted on the stage of the original theater.
The “Theatre History” page of the Hoosier’s web site also says this: “A fully installed six-rank pipe organ, collected from various theater venues in the Chicago area, offers another opportunity for live music. Katris is looking for someone to play it.”
The link with the Hoosier Theatre’s history that kencmcintyre linked to is dead, but I think it might be the same document that is available in a pdf file here. There’s no date on it, but it was published after the house had been refurbished and reopened by John Katris.
This house was advertising as the Hoosier Auditorium Theatre in the March 2, 1969, issue of The Hammond Times. It was open Friday through Sunday evenings with a double feature of Thunderball and From Russia With Love, plus a separate kids' matinée on Saturday featuring Tammy and the Millionaire.
The Hoosier closed in December 1959 for an unspecified period. An article in the Hammond Times, excerpted here, mentions three other Whiting theaters, the Star, Princess and Capitol.
Top Stars Showed Youthful Wares In Hoosier Theater
Oil City Once Had 4 Showhouses
Closing of Whiting’s Hoosier theater, the city’s only remaining theater and an entertainment center in the Oil City for the last 35 yearsâ€"because there just wasn’t enough revenueâ€"opens the door to a past, brilliant with its glitter of stars, both in the vaudeville and movie worlds.
Although of late movies played to more empty seats than filled ones at the Hoosier, former stage manager William Schulte recalls the days when people lined up outside waiting to get in to see such hits of the past as “Birth of a Nation”, “What Price Glory” and others.
When the Hoosier theater opened its doors in 1924 it was under the ownership of Jack and Margaret Bennett, who prior to construction of the Hoosier had operated the Princess theater near the new show place. In 1929 the Hoosier was taken over by Warner Brothers, with Mrs. Bennett and a new partner, Roy Green, Whiting attorney, as operators.
Passing of the Hoosier theater temporarily or permanently, brings to a close a Whiting theater era that had its start shortly after the coming of Standard Oil Co. refinery to the town in 1889. The Star theater on 119th Street near New York Avenue was recognized as the first “modern” movie house in Whiting, although there had been one earlier place that catered to the public in the early history of movies. Opening of the Princess theater, also on 119th street, near Sheridan Avenue, and west of the Star, gave the Oil City two theaters.
For a short time Whiting was a town with four theaters. The town enjoyed this distinction when the Capitol theater, on 119th Street near LaPorte Avenue, opened its doors, Hoosier came into existence about a year laterâ€"and the Star and Princess theaters were still operated by the owners of the new Capitol and Hoosier theatersâ€"A. J. Obresk and Margaret Bennett, respectively. Both Obresk and Mrs. Bennett are now dead.
Here is a most illuminating link describing the long history of the Hoosier:
http://tinyurl.com/s7q8y
I have a few exterior pics of this gem.